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Past Editions

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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- April 15, 2002
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Subscribe for free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com

o Sony Sued Over Digitized Times Square Skyscraper Ads in "Spider-Man"
o Judge to Rule on Motions to Dismiss in U.S. v Elcomsoft E-Book Case
o Online Marketplace Season Tickets Adds $1 Million to Second Round
o Report: Forty Million Americans Regularly Downloading Digital Music
o Listen.com Adds CD Burning to Rhapsody Music Subscription Service
> TOMORROW: Los Angeles Interactive TV Panel | Four Seasons Hotel
o Briefly Noted: Interactive TV Emmy Award, Fandango - "Spider-Man,"
OpenTV - Matsushita - Germany, LucasArts - "Wrath," CenterSpan
Communications, Music Choice, InterVideo - SRS Labs, Gemstar-TV Guide
International, Computers - music creation
_____________________________________________

o Sony Sued Over Digitized Times Square Skyscraper Ads in "Spider-Man"

New York -- A building owner and a company that places billboard ads on
buildings in New York City's Times Square have sued Sony Pictures over the
company's covering over of actual ads from the New York City skyline with
digital replacement ads for other companies in its upcoming "Spider-Man"
movie. Sherwood 48 Associates, which owns Two Times Square, and ad firm
Super Sign sued Sony and the film's distributors because ads purchased by
companies such as Samsung and NBC that appear on the sides of buildings
are replaced in the film with ads for companies including USA Today and
Cingular Wireless -- which partnered with Sony on a multi-platform ad
campaign for the movie. Sherwood 48 and Super Sign argue in their
complaint that "advertisers depend on the fact that their ads will not
only be seen by the hundreds of millions of people who pass through Times
Square each year but also on the residual impact of their signs appearing
in photographs, newspapers, magazines, TV shows, movies and elsewhere."
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/spiderman/spiderman040902cmp.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34067-2002Apr11.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-882158.html?tag=cd_mh
_____________________________________________

o Judge to Rule on Motions to Dismiss in U.S. v Elcomsoft E-Book Case

San Francisco -- U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte on Monday said he
would rule on two motions to dismiss by May 6 and set a trial date in a
case brought by the U.S. government against Russian software firm
Elcomsoft, over the company's software that can circumvent the
copy-protection on Adobe's eBook Reader, CNET reported. The case is one of
the first to test the criminal provisions of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA); under the law it is illegal to circumvent the
copyright protections on digital media. Elcomsoft has argued in motions
filed with the court that the DMCA should be declared unconstitutional
because it is "too vague," and also that its software code should be
considered protected speech under the First Amendment. The case garnered
publicity when Elcomsoft employee Dmitry Sklyarov, creator of the
software, was arrested by the FBI while attending a software convention in
Las Vegas; charges against Sklyarov have since been dropped in return for
his cooperation with the government's ongoing case against Elcomsoft.
http://news.com.com/2110-1023-882775.html?tag=cdshrt
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175864.html
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Elcomsoft/
http://www.elcomsoft.com
_____________________________________________

o Online Marketplace Season Tickets Adds $1 Million to Second Round

Chicago -- Season Tickets, a provider of season ticket management,
exchange and group ticket software and services, announced on Monday that
it has added $1 million in new funds to its second round of venture
capital financing. AZ Ventures and The Vechery Family Trust were among the
new investors participating in the round. Chicago-based Season Tickets
helps sports teams and other providers of series tickets manage season
ticket sales, as well as provide an online marketplace for secondary
ticket sales. Customers include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves,
Chicago Bulls, the Staples Center and the Georgia Dome. The company will
use the funds to further expand its operations and increase its share in
the secondary ticket marketplace.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/221052220&ticker=
http://www.seasontickets.com
_____________________________________________

o Report: Forty Million Americans Regularly Downloading Digital Music

San Francisco -- Forty million Americans have downloaded or transferred
digital music in the past six months -- and do so an average of eleven
times per week -- according to market research firm Odyssey's recent
Breadbox study of e-commerce trends. The study showed that 31 percent of
U.S. online users over the age of 16, or 40 million users, have downloaded
music recently. A breakdown by age also showed that 53 percent of users
over 16 years old, 20 percent of users over 30, and 14 percent of those
over the age of 45 have downloaded or transferred music in the past six
months. San Francisco-based Odyssey's survey of 3,000 U.S. consumers
showed that 23 percent of households own a CD-RW drive, up from 16 percent
in January 2001. The firm argued that major label efforts to thwart piracy
with legitimate services such as MusicNet and Pressplay are "meant to
solve the industry's problems, not meet consumers' needs," said Odyssey's
Sean Baenen. "We're seeing a sea change and from the consumer perspective
it looks as if the industry is still out shopping for boats."
http://www.odysseylp.com
_____________________________________________

o Listen.com Adds CD Burning to Rhapsody Music Subscription Service

San Francisco -- Listen.com, provider of the Rhapsody digital music
subscription service, announced on Monday that it has partnered with
Irvine, Calif.-based NewTech Infosystems (NTI) to provide CD burning
capabilities for its service. The company also announced that it has
obtained a CD burning license from classical music label Naxos of America.
The agreement allows Naxos for Rhapsody subscribers to burn a limited
amount of songs from Naxos' catalog to CD each month. San Francisco-based
Listen.com said that CD burning capabilities will debut on Rhapsody in
May, along with the release of Rhapsody version 1.5.
http://www.listen.com
http://www.ntius.com/
http://www.naxos.com/
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> DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE PANEL DISCUSSION SERIES:
"iTV: New Interactive Services Fuel Big Expectations
Slow Market Penetration Raises Questions: How Big is iTV Going to Be?"

========================================================
LOS ANGELES: Tuesday, April 16, 2002, Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills
========================================================
Moderator: Ken Rutkowski, Founder and CEO, KenRadio.com
Stephen Condon, SVP and CMO, Intertainer
Steve Hoffman, CEO, Spiderdance
Mark Kapczynski, Principal, Media & Entertainment Solutions Group,
Microsoft
David Nathanson, VP of Broadband Strategy & Channel Development, Fox Cable
Networks
Scott Newnam, Chairman/President/CEO, GoldPocket Interactive

Sponsored by: SpyWorm.TV, LARTA
For more information and to register for the Los Angeles event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/LAitv2.html

========================================================
SAN FRANCISCO: Wednesday, April 17, 2002, City Club of San Francisco
========================================================
Moderator: Sean Badding, VP and Senior Analyst, The Carmel Group
Martijn Lopes Cardozo, VP of Product Management, GoldPocket Interactive
Mitchell Linden, Head of Operations - North America, BBC Technology
Bill Niemeyer, Founder, Centrimedia (former Director, Strategic Dev.,
Spiderdance)
Peter Schultz, Director of Business Development, PopTV Program, Liberate
Bridget Steele, Business Development Manager, Microsoft TV

For more information and to register for the San Francisco event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/SFitv2.html

=========================================================
NEW YORK: Thursday, April 25, 2002, Cornell Club of New York City
=========================================================
Moderator: Art Cohen, SVP, Advertising, ACTV
Patrick Donoghue, VP, Interactive Television, Cablevision
Malia Flynn, Director of Product Management, WorldGate
Christopher S. Lucas, VP & Exec. Producer, Digital Media Group, Showtime
Networks
Rod A. Nenner, Director, TV & Entertainment Solutions Group, America
Online
Carla Sinatra, Vice President of Business Development, NBC
Todd Krieger, Senior Manager, Business Development, Microsoft TV

Sponsored by: WorldGate, iTV Marketer (http://www.itvmarketer.com)
For more information and to register for the New York event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/NYCitv2.html

Sponsorships and Inquiries:
Ned Sherman at 323.464.0793 or esherman@digitalmediawire.com
Paul Sherman at psherman@digitalmediawire.com

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o Briefly Noted:

(North Hollywood, Calif.) The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
announced on Monday that it is now is accepting entries for nominees for
the new Emmy Award category for Outstanding Achievement Interactive
Television Programming. The award will recognize original interactive
programming work from July 1, 2001-May 31, 2002 deployed on a national
technological platform. "The establishment of this award is a significant
event in the history of television as it recognizes that interactivity is
an important and growing part of the television viewing experience," said
Academy chairman and CEO Bryce Zabel.
http://www.emmys.tv/interactive

(Hollywood) Fandango, a provider of online movie ticket sales, announced
on Monday that it has begun selling advance tickets to the first
screenings of the upcoming Sony Pictures film, "Spider-Man." Tickets for
the May 3 opening day and first week of screenings are currently on sale
for "Spider-Man" screenings at Carmike Cinemas, Century Theatres, Cinemark
Theatres, Edwards Theatres, Loews-Cineplex Entertainment and Regal Cinemas
theaters.
http://www.fandango.com
http://www.sony.com/spider-man

(Mountain View, Calif.) OpenTV, a developer of operating system software
for set-top boxes used to deliver interactive television services,
announced on Monday that its software will be used on electronics firm
Matsushita's Panasonic set-top boxes deployed in Germany. The devices have
been designed for the F.U.N. (Free Universe Network) satellite platform
and will use Mountain View-based OpenTV's middleware as well as its
embedded HTML browser -- which allows TV viewers to surf the Web, access
email, play games, send SMS text messages and view electronic program
guides. OpenTV said that German commercial broadcaster RTL, in addition to
public broadcasters ARD and ZDF are developing content for the new set-top
box.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020415/150140_1.html
http://www.opentv.com

(San Rafael, Calif.) LucasArts, the video game publishing arm of director
George Lucas' Lucas Group, said on Monday that it has acquired the rights
to publish "Wrath" from Newport Beach, Calif.-based game developer The
Collective. Dubbed an "arcade-style game with a turn-based element that
uniquely blends strategy and action," "Wrath" will be released for
Microsoft's Xbox and other game consoles in 2003.
http://www.lucasarts.com
http://www.collectivestudios.com/wrath/html/index.htm
http://www.xboxweb.com/previews/xbox/wrath.html

(Hillsboro, Ore.) CenterSpan Communications, a developer of peer-to-peer
content delivery network technology, announced on Monday a new platform
that allows companies and content providers to publish and securely
deliver any type of rich media. Oregon-based CenterSpan said the C-StarOne
network offers delivery of music, movies and other media content at less
than one half the cost of traditional content delivery models. The company
recently raised an additional $2.1 million in a private funding placement.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020415/152160_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020402/20121_1.html
http://www.centerspan.com

(Horsham, Pa.) Music Choice, a provider of digital music programming to
digital TV providers, said on Monday that it has launched 45 new enhanced
music channels. In addition to commercial-free digital music in a range of
genres, Pennsylvania-based Music Choice will add album art, music news,
artist facts, music history, new releases and TV screen ads. The company
said that the new enhanced channels will reach around 8 million digital TV
homes.
http://www.musicchoice.com

(Fremont, Calif.) InterVideo, a provider of DVD playback software for PCs,
said on Monday that it has licensed audio technology developer SRS Labs'
virtual surround sound technology for use in its software products. Santa
Ana, Calif.-based SRS Labs' technology creates a 5.1 surround sound
experience over standard, two-speaker playback systems or headphones.
Fremont-based InterVideo will use the audio technology in its WinDVD
software, which is bundled with PCs made by firms including Dell,
Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Toshiba and Compaq.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020415/nem017_1.html
http://www.srslabs.com
http://www.intervideo.com

(Pasadena, Calif.) Gemstar-TV Guide International, a provider of
interactive program guides for digital television, announced on Monday
that it has appointed Jeff Shell as co-president and chief operating
officer. Prior to joining Pasadena-based Gemstar, Shell served as
president and CEO of Fox Cable Networks Group. Last week, several groups
of shareholders filed class action lawsuits against the company, alleging
Gemstar misrepresented its financial status in SEC reports, resulting in
an artificially inflated stock price.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020415/150157_1.html
http://www.gemstartvguide.com/

(San Francisco) The May 2002 issue of Wired magazine features an article
on the use of computer software in the creation of music, from actual
elecronica tunes to the use of computers and software programs to edit
analog and acoustic-produced music. Many electronic music enthusiasts
spend part of their time programming new software patches that affect
different changes or musical effects, and the remainder actually composing
music with their own and others' homemade software.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.05/laptop.html
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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire